Date of Construction: 1959

Architect: Emery Roth & Sons

Neighborhood: Lower East Side

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Baruch Houses were created as an example for better housing practices.  Emphasizing the importance of such a development, there was an obligation to provide decent housing for all living in the slums.  This obligation was recognized both in federal and state legislation, and applications were taken for the low-rent apartments beginning in the summer of 1953.  The Baruch Houses project was a solution to the lack of middle-income housing.  The $31,410,000 development would be the largest of all the low-rent projects built by the city, and would provide apartments for 2,194.  The rest of the site would be utilized for landscaping, walking paths, and playgrounds.

 

The area changed drastically in anticipation of the Baruch Houses.  The last few lingering shops included Poppa Carmello Bubello’s candy shop at 311 Rivington Street, and Morris Rubin, a cobbler at Lewis Street and Rivington Street.  The relocation of families living on the sites acquired for public housing was a problem for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).  NYCHA’s plan was to gradually relocate displaced tenement residents to new housing developments being built throughout the city.  Through a three stage construction plan beginning along the East River and moving West, various sections of tenements would be destroyed in a timeframe that would allow those tenement residents to either be placed in new NYCHA housing throughout the city or would give them time to find other accommodations.

 

By 1952, Baruch Place was established as a street, and many other streets were changed within the housing development grid, such as New Street, which was paved to connect Baruch Street with Mangin Street, in addition to East Street, which was eventually destroyed to make way for Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive.

 

The Baruch Houses development recognizes the contributions Bernard Baruch’s father, Simon Baruch, made toward better hygiene and living conditions, and nearby is the first public bath named for him.  It was designed with an interest in public housing, hygiene, medical care, better conditions and equal opportunities for all.  The bathhouse still remains on the property, and it was converted into a recreational facility shortly after the Baruch Houses project was complete. 

 

Emery Roth & Sons, one of the most prolific architectural firms responsible for many of the classic New York City buildings such as The San Remo and The Beresford on Central Park West, designed 18 freestanding buildings for the Baruch Houses development in a zigzag style to offer great views of the East River and to underscore the concept of open space.  Having worked on many projects in the 1920's and 1930's combining the Beaux-Arts and Art Deco styles, Richard Roth of the firm designed all sixteen thirteen-story structures, in addition to one seven-story building, with irregular fronts.  The buildings incorporate diagonal axes and zigzag-shaped footprints.  They are clad in red brick and feature crenellated slab blocks; the Baruch Addition, not designed by Emery Roth & Sons, is clad in yellow brick and deviates from the diagonal axes design.  This general shape and building layout, which consists of dispersed structures throughout the site with no distinct primary facades, succeeds in providing 70 percent of the Baruch Houses with impressive views of the East River.  There is no dominant central open space within the development; instead, there are generously scaled open spaces distributed throughout the complex.  Additionally, the development’s close proximity to the East River emphasizes the sense of open space.

 

The “Towers in the Park” included space for the Baruch Playgrounds, a two-and-a-half acre “back yard” for children living in the development. The housing project would have front yards, also.  Since structures within the complex collectively occupy 12% of 27 acres, much space for casual play areas could be incorporated such as landscaping, walking paths, sitting areas, and playgrounds.